Friend of God-4 What Wondrous Love is This? by David Asscherick

I Father in heaven truly it is a joy to be in your presence and it is a joy to be with your people father here on the Sabbath in these special hours in this special place with these special people we pray for the anointing of your spirit father we only have time for one sermon and so we're going to need something supernatural to take place father we need you to take one sermon and make it applicable to more than a thousand people and father that can only happen by the spirit no man can know every circumstance every personality every situation every discouragement every triumph father we need something supernatural to happen tonight but your spirit will come into the lives and situations of the individuals here and that they would hear not the voice of a man but the voice of the son of man speaking not to the ears but to the heart into the conscience father tonight we have met because the Sabbath is the time to meet with you and with one another you have been with us in worship you have been with us in fellowship and be with us now in study may our hearts be turned toward your father it's been a difficult week for some of us as Josh has some trouble and trial are almost over 2,000 years of come and gone father we're living in strange and portentous times difficult times trying time sensual times skeptical times secular times and father we're just trying to be Christians we're trying to be your people and tonight as we study one of the parables of Jesus may we come away with a better understanding of who you are and of who we are in context be with us now father as we open your word may you open us is our prayer in Jesus name let all of God's people say Amen the seventh-day Adventist hymnal number 162 the hymn writer says these words what wondrous love is this O my soul what wondrous lay he repeats himself what wondrous love is this O my soul he repeats himself again what wondrous love is this O my soul and then he gives us a context for his worship he gives us a context for his praise he says what wondrous love is this O my soul that would cause the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul it's as if language has failed him he just repeats himself what wonder how can this be is what he's saying as the hymn writer thinks about this exchange as he thinks about this exchange the Lord of bliss bearing the dreadful curse for my soul it's as if he's saying it doesn't seem worth it how can that be why should that be what wondrous love is this well I remember it was probably three years ago I was in a congregation they were singing this song and as I was meditating on this song and thinking about it it got me thinking about the idea of worth what's the word everyone the idea of worth and what the hem rider appears to be saying is it doesn't seem worth it from God's perspective to bear the dreadful curse from my soul that seems to be what he's saying what wondrous love is this O my soul that would cause the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse and he seems to be saying for me he he seems to think that it's not worth it that there's not sufficient value that God would see it as a legitimate exchange or as a bargain we might say and so I turn to the dictionary which is always a good thing to do and I look that word worth up mr. Webster told me that it means the value of something the what everyone the value of something especially in terms of money the amount of something that can be bought for a particular sum of money or that will last for a particular length of time worth basically the idea of worth is the idea of exchange it's the idea of what everyone exchange value we understand this language we understand this nomenclature we might say something like this we might say that car that automobile is not worth ten thousand dollars but what we mean by that is if I have to give my hard-earned money ten thousand dollars of my hard earned money I don't think I'm getting sufficient exchange for that car now that car might not be worth ten thousand but this car would be worth ten thousand that's the idea of worth is it worth it are we together everyone now the idea of worth works not only in money it also works in time some of you no doubt are students and you're asking yourself questions like this is it worth it for me to pursue my master's degree right and so you're balancing the pros and the cons do I go into the workforce with the degree that I have the four-year degree or the two-year associate's degree or should I should I get an advanced degree a post college degree a graduate degree is it what am I going to say is it worth it it not only is true in terms of money and in true true in terms of time in terms of is it worth it for me to pursue a degree for example but even in terms of effort many of us have been involved in relationships and when those relationships become strained and you encounter difficulties whether it's in a relationship boyfriend/girlfriend or even heaven forbid husband wife or even just with your brothers and your sisters in Christ we sometimes when those trials come and those vicissitudes come and those difficulties come we say is this relationship worth it are we together every one and these are the kinds of questions every one of us has to live the life the unique life that God has given to us and we are every day making value judgments what kind of judgments value judgments is it worth it to me is the car worth ten thousand dollars is it worth it for me to get my postgraduate degree is this relationship worth the time and energy and expenditures that I'm putting into it the idea of worth is the idea of exchange the idea of what everyone exchange now nowhere no time was this idea of value and Worth and it's subjectivity clearer to me than in the days leading up to my wedding now my lovely wife who just had the privilege of of gazing longingly at because I can't imagine how else you could possibly look at her I'm going to let you down a little story here and I'm going to tell you you don't take don't don't do as I say not as I do okay when I met Violeta I knew her for six weeks and then I asked her to marry me Wow is that dangerous that's what I'm saying do as I say not as I do now I'll throw in a little I'll throw in a little caveat there a little qualifier and I'm telling you straight up God in heaven as my witness the Lord spoke to me not once not twice but thrice and told me she's the one for you before even newer I knew her brother and God said she's the one I didn't tell her that right that's the old that's the old that's the old pick up line among the young people at the at the youth Bible study program God told me you're the one for me and told me he tell me he tell you later so I didn't tell her that I didn't tell her that and amazingly I'm a astoundingly after just six short weeks she said yes and now we're 11 years just celebrated our 11 year anniversary totally happily married and I can tell you with no reservation and with no equivocation and with no exaggeration that we are more in love and more happily married today than we have ever been am I telling the truth Violetta amen well anyway to sort of cut to the chase here in the days leading up to our wedding I was probably a typical guy in the sense that I didn't care much about the cake cutter the color of the bridesmaids dresses the flavor of the cake or any other detail that to me that stuff was that stuff was all sort of leading up to the main event and the main event was the I do part are we do she said oh do you like this dress yeah it looks great oh and what do you think I'm thinking this color with these flowers and yeah for sure for sure so so so for me we could have worn black with polka dots and if I get her at the end of the day game on okay so in keeping with sort of tradition I suppose that would be the best way of saying it we rented tuxedos right that's sort of the way you do it you rent a tuxedo and all the guys stand up there looking very sober looking very somber sort of wearing their zoot suits and in in preparation for for renting those tuxedos my wife lives in Northern Californian area called Napa Valley and there's a town there called st. Helena's that right sweetheart I want to get this right well it came time for us to rent some tuxedos and so we called to a store there in st. Helena and st. Helena's right in the heart of sort of the Napa Valley wine district the vineyards there's way too much money and way too much rotten grape juice okay are you with me everyone and so so we called up this this men's store the only problem is is that it's not a men's clothing store it's a clothing a you know what a clothing is it's a men's clothing store right but when they call it a clothing they can charge you X orbited amounts of money for things you could get at Men's Wearhouse for next to nothing so we went to this clothing and when we pulled up we weren't looking to rent some tuxedos and when we walked in we parked our little honda accord between the lexus and the BMW and we walked inside and that we had called ahead and we don't notify the lady hey you know we're going to be coming in we're looking at some tuxedo styles we rent tuxedos great perfect so when we walked in you know I was the guy who didn't care what color it was cumberbund what in the world is a cumberbund know I didn't know any of this so Violeta oh you're the one that called it and they're doing the girl thing and oh this would and they're sort of at the front so I'm doing I'm just I'm just standing around in this clothing and so I sort of start wandering around and I start looking at some of the items some of the wares that were for sale now let me just say something here the way that I shop this is how I shop I first figure out what something costs before I decide if I like it you see how that works you see how that works you should try this you should try this it works really well so you're walking in the mall you're walking in a storefront you see that pair and a pair of shoes catches your eye yes right don't commit don't commit at this point it's just it's just an interest it's not an attraction so you go into the store and you pick up the pair of shoes now depending on what's on the bottom of the shoe so you look at it they said I can't believe that someone would wear that right see you're non-committal you're non-committal but same pair of shoes you walk is it remember this there's no what there's no attraction here just interest nice it Marcy oh do you have these in a nine right so so let me recommend now many of the ladies they heard that whole thing and they say I don't get it what was that he said something is he is he talking Spanish no no try to get the sequence with me here first you figure out the price then you decide if you like it are we together everyone so so I'm walking through Mario's clothing a and I'm non-committal about everything right because I'm just there with my wife who's looking at the tuxedos and so I see a jacket that's there in the clothing a first clothe the eighth I've ever been in and the last and so I walk up to the to the jacket and it's a nice looking jacket nothing amazing certainly not anything that's knocking me over it's just no pants just a jacket and it's sort of a little bit of a maybe a kind of a herringbone pattern now this would have been years ago this would have been twelve years ago a bit of a herringbone pattern with a little leather patches on the yellow bows you know the kind of thing you might wear like to a golf tournament or something you know you kind of get or maybe to sip some tea if you if you're picking up when I'm laying goes it's just a nice sort of a and I looked out of that lots it's not a bad looking jacket so then I I looked at the price tag because that's how you start so I and I thought oh that this is a misprint so I looked at the one behind it because there was several st. misprint can you believe it and then the third so I started looking at the back of the jacket to see if there was like a like a rocket pack I was looking to see if there was like a mesh liner like bulletproof like maybe this was like a police officer's jacket 100% wool leather patches $5,000 ugliest jacket I've ever seen it suddenly dawned on me that we would not be renting our tuxedos from this clothing so I thought well you know I'll just have a little fun cuz Violette is up front with the lady so I'll just sort of wander around you know and and see what people who have too much money spend for things so there was a rack of belts just like this one target just like that one right there five hundred dollars yep the shoes didn't even have the prices on them you know you did this thing you don't know afraid to ask I began to wonder if there was anything in the store that I could personally afford so there was a little wicker basket and it had socks in it not the 3-pack the one pack so look at this $72 pair of socks eventually we escaped from the clothing a as you can imagine we spent no money and and as I'm sort of wandering through the store and just beside myself with these prices it suddenly dawns on me I have this like a PIFAN e moment it dawns on me this place is open for business wait a minute this is a store it has a door and and people come through that door and they shop here which must mean then that people come through that very same door that I came through they walk up to that very same jacket that I saw and they were oh well that's a nice-looking jacket and take it off on the right size this room put it on stand in front of the three-way right call over to the sweetheart what do you think of this oh oh that's nice and that looked that would go good with your sort of blue corduroys that's that's nice and at some point at some point in this transaction he's going to have to look at the tag right at some point if he's going to get out of the store with the jacket he's gonna have to look at the tag and so at some point he's gonna oh and it's only $5,000 I'll take two right in other words the fact that the store is open for business it sort of dawned on me there people are buying these clothes people are paying 500 dollars for about seventy two dollars for a pair of socks God knows what for a pair of shoes and $5,000 for a wool blazer now the first thing that we can deduce from this is that some people have way too much money the second thing that we can deduce and don't miss this remember we're talking about worth what are we talking about everyone worth and worth is value it's the idea of exchange right that car is worth ten thousand dollars that jacket is not worth $5000 it is worth it for me to pursue my master's degree and this relationship is or is not worth it it's the idea of worth the idea of what everyone worth and worth has the idea of what exchange and here's the first key and don't miss this it could change your life the value of an object is determined by the one who's willing to pay the price way together everyone the value of an object is determined by the one who's willing to pay the price are we together so Jesus is telling a parable Jesus is telling we learned last night that Jesus spoke in parables because he had the Herculean task of trying to communicate the in communicable trying to communicate the glories of heaven no agendas no sin no death no disease no transgression and he's got to come down and he's got to share it with these twelve guys right that act more like the Three Stooges and the disciples and he's got to try and communicate to them the glories of that in language they have no idea for them sin is normal death is normal disease as normal betrayal as normal rape is normal Rome is normal murder is normal and you have to communicate that kingdom to these people for the disciples the Kingdom of Heaven is Rome right Rome is is it's the model kingdom all roads lead to Rome rome wasn't built in the day When in Rome do as the Romans so when Jesus is spending all this time talking about the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of heaven I mean if the kingdom of Rome is this what must the kingdom of heaven be and so he would say we we noted last night things like this fellas the kingdom of heaven is like and languages is is stretching here he's thinking he's thick a mustard seed and the disciples are like what the kingdom of heaven is like a you see beloved Jesus spoke in parables because how can you communicate the in communicable to people who who only have language as their vehicle for it's not it's not possible so Jesus frequently spoke in parables and tonight we're gonna look at two parables how many parables every one two parables two of Jesus simplest and shortest parables they're found in the Gospel of Matthew join me there if you would Matthew chapter 13 tonight we're talking about worth what are we talking about everyone worth we're going to Matthew chapter 13 and Jesus here tells two parables in rapid succession Matthew chapter 13 we'll pick it up in verse 44 Matthew chapter 13 and verse 44 Jesus says again the kingdom of heaven is what what does your Bible say is like here again he's finding it difficult to try and communicate the incommunicable he always have to find he always has to find something that is analogous to the kingdom of heaven because there's nothing on earth that can perfectly communicate the sublimity of heaven and so yes aha guys the kingdom of heaven is like and look at what he says here the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure it's like a what everyone a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and he buys that field second parable verse 45 again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking beautiful what's he looking for pearls who when he had found how many pearls one pearl of what great price went and sold what did he sell all that he had and then he bought it Jesus tells two parables here now in the context of Jesus speaking in the days in which Jesus was speaking this parable would have made perfect contextual sense it would have resonated with the people to whom Jesus was speaking for this reason today if you received a large inheritance of money or or or or perhaps you heaven forbid won the lottery or something happened to you and you suddenly had a lot more money than you had yesterday what would you do with that money okay I'm not talked about how would you spend it all of a sudden you have $200,000 what are you what is your first question how do I keep this safe where am I going to put it you're not going to put it under your mattress right because you put you hundred thousand dollars under your mattress and ten years from now it's not two hundred thousand dollars anymore now it's a hundred and sixty thousand dollars because of this thing called inflation so you've got two hundred thousand where you going to put it well you're going to I don't know where you're going to put it I know where I might put it but you're gonna have to think about how can I keep this safe some might put it in bonds some might put it in the stock market some might invest it in evangelism amen but you're gonna you're going to have that money and in the days of Jesus before they had banks before they had safety deposit box before they had u.s. bonds and Treasury bonds many people would take their treasures whether it was a monetary treasure or gems or gold or something that was of value to them and they would take that treasure in an out-of-the-way place and they'd bury it they would bury their treasure in the ground that's how they keep it safe if you kept it in your home that was potentially unsafe and so they would bury their treasure in an out-of-the-way location and then they would go on their way but what happens if something eventually what happens if something happens to me right my treasure would go undiscovered perhaps for many years now just imagine in the days of Jesus people would have known people who would have known people to who this to whom this happened you might just be too all about taking a Sabbath afternoon walk and you're in an out-of-the-way area and as you're walking you you sort of stub your toe on something that doesn't feel quite like a rock and there are no trees around say and you look Oh something looks a little abnormal there and there's a little bump in the ground so you begin the process of excavation and as you're sort of oh this is well this is cover it back up right Jesus would have known Jesus is speaking in the context of the first century people took their treasures people took their things that were valuable to them and they hid them in the ground so Jesus uses this what would have been a common practice in his day no doubt people would have either found some sort of treasure familial or or or otherwise or they would have known somebody who knew somebody who this to whom this had happened and he says the kingdom of heaven is like a man who found a treasure in a field and when he found that treasure what did he do he went and sold what did he sell all that he had so that he could one buy that treasure now here's a question how would that transaction have looked in the eyes of his friends and peers and family seriously how would that look oh yeah I was just out taking a Sabbath afternoon ha walk and now I'm liquidating all of my assets I want to buy that field on the back 40 right they'd say oh poor investment strategy right bad choice but this guy has seen the treasure you see he knows what's in the field it might not look right it might not look sound it might not look like a good investment strategy from somebody else's perspective but he knows what's in the field are we together everyone and and so the Bible says that he sells all that he has now a quick question here are we supposed to feel sorry for this guy yes or no no no no no in fact the bible does give us an emotion that is associated with this transaction and what is that emotion according to verse 44 what is the emotion it's joy this man doesn't have to be forced this man doesn't have to be compelled this man doesn't have to be urged what he can't wait to liquidate his assets so that he can get that treasure he can get that field listen very carefully now because to him it is worth it are we together now he tells the second parable about a man who's looking for for goodly pearls and he finds one pearl of great price and he liquidates all of his assets so that he can get that one pearl there was something about that somebody who hadn't seen that pearl would say are you kidding it's a pearl man it's one man but you haven't seen this pearl there's something about about I gotta have this probe it's going to cost you it I got to have this pearl now when Jesus spoke in parables he sometimes gave the interpretation of those parables just explicitly other times he didn't and sometimes its intimated within the context now what does this parable teach what does it mean well most of us might say something like this most of us might say well isn't it obvious preacher I mean when we're wandering through the field of life and we suddenly stub our toe on the gospel when we suddenly stub our toe on the Lord Jesus Christ we say whoa what is this religion I didn't think it was for me seventh-day Adventism I didn't think it was for me oh that and we begin to excavate and and what looked listen to me what looked like dirt turns into a treasure are we together and so many of us who have had a conversion experience of what kind of experience many of us have about a conversion experience we are willing by the grace of God to give up anything and everything to obtain that treasure and let's be honest to our peers in to those around us sometimes this looks like a foolish transaction people say all you got all religious now right what happened you're all religious now and and you're just I mean it's okay to be a little spiritual to be a little religious but you're going over the top are you hearing me yes or no it's just it's just too much it doesn't look rational it doesn't look reasonable it looks over-the-top I mean why do you have to be so serious about it are you track and so many of us would say many of us would say well of course the parable means that when we stumble on the gospel and we stumble on the Lord Jesus Christ we are willing to give up anything and everything to secure him friends may abandon I'll take Jesus the world may turn its back on us I'll take Jesus might be a career might be I mean who knows what it could be but we say whatever it takes I'm willing to give it all up to get Jesus can you say Amen and many of us would say that's what the parable is teaching I wouldn't deny that it's some level of interpretive soundness that's what Jesus was teaching that when we encounter Christ when we encounter the gospel we should be and by the spirit are willing to give up anything and everything for the goodness of penny say man what does the old hymn say you can have all this world just give me Jesus are we together everyone so while this is a sound interpretation and many commentaries will corroborate this interpretation I would like to suggest to you here today that this interpretation does not exhaust the interpretive possibilities is there something else here I think the answer is yes and in order to introduce to you what I think the other option is here the other interpretive option I want to introduce you to something that I call it's my own little thing hopefully you'll be able to follow what I think you will the container contents paradox okay it's the what everyone the container contents paradox and it goes something like this it is nearly always the case listen to how careful the language is it is nearly always the case that the contents of a thing is worth more than the container in which it is found are we together that's it's nearly always the case okay so that the contents is worth more than the container let's go back to the shoes illustration let's say that you're shopping you've not obligated yourself have you because you don't yet know the one you don't know the price right some of the late who I this illustration is confusing to me okay so you look at the shoes you're non-committal you walk into the store and you take a look Wow best looking shoes I've ever seen do you have him in a nine he says yes I'll go in the back and check and so he goes in the back now you tell me how you would relate to this transaction the salesman comes back out and says sir I've got good news and I've got bad news great what's the good news he says well the good news is we have the box for the size nine in the black the bad news is we don't have the shoe would you like the box okay yes or no no because you're interested in what's in the box now let's change the illustration same situation everything's identical he comes on since we got some good news we've got some bad news the good news is we've got your shoe we've got your shoe and the size and in the color and in the style you want the bad news is we don't have the box do you want the shoes yes or no because because what's the purpose of the box is simply to contain what the shoes and so back to our container contents paradox it is usually the case that the contents of a thing is worth more than the container in which it is found we together everyone think of a bank why do people rob banks because of the architecture you know that's a it's a good-looking building I want to rob that one No why do people rob banks because of what's inside okay how about a safety deposit box safety - what's worth more the box or the contents contents how about a box of candy now some of you health reformers are like the Box amen right right right but for the rest of us sinners it's the candy right it's the it's not the boxes how about there's this thing you might have heard of it before called the sanctuary what's it called everyone sanctuary and it was made up of three compartments the first was called the courtyard the second was the holy place and the third was called the most holy place and inside of the most holy place there was a single article of furniture in that article of furniture what was that thing the Ark of the you tell me what was the Ark of the Covenant it was a box the thing was a box Wow what was the issue what was the deal what made the Ark of the Covenant so awesome what made it so holy it was in the box it's what it's what's inside and what was inside of the box the Ten Commandments written by the finger of God on tables of stone can you say Amen and the mercy seat on top and the cherubim there and so the point is very well illustrated usually what's the word everyone usually which is why I was very careful with my language it is nearly always the case that the con the container is worth less than the content so we together we call this the container and paradox now the first time I ever presented this sermon it was in Troy Michigan would have been several years ago now and a great church loved the church very much miss it to this day and in that church there was a gentleman that would come he was a what was he a neurologist any neurologist here tonight are you really okay don't lie in church any not one nobody's gonna raise their hand like I'm not raising my hand for nothing he's gonna call me up there anyway he was a neurologist he was just a little guy is about his name was dr. David Gaston and he was one of these people I think what happens with these neurologists is they're so brilliant that they start to border on not brilliant that's the nicest way of saying it and I love David Gaston and he knows I tell this story so he wouldn't mind one little bit and-and-and he was in my church and I loved that brother so much and he always had something funny something clever something intuitive to say and so I could preach any sermon it could be the simplest gospel sermon it could be the most complex epistemological philosophical ontological treatment of some esoteric thing no matter what I preached on he always had something to say invariably you know how these truth oh yeah pass that was a good sermon but they have some little butt up now at least half of the time it was brilliant I was like whoa thank you right but then the other half of the time I was like okay doctor well in the Hebrew thank you so you're gonna be a potluck doctor guest and good good to see you and and so so when I present at this particular sermon are you with me I said I made a homiletically steak how many theology majors do we have here okay homiletically steak don't say this I said never but you'll learn not to say never try to avoid it so I said it is never the case it is never the case that the container is worth more than the contents right because I hadn't thought it through so dr. Gaston's coming out he shakes my head he's the whole David I was thinking about your sermon is a great sermon by the way thank you so much and uh but I do have one point of clarification it's every Sabbath yeah yeah go ahead dr. G what is it you know that the point you said it's never the case where the container is worth more than the contents I said yeah he said I can think of one I said okay go ahead doctor gasps he said your bladder all right you know what I had to say I had to give him that one didn't I like it Touche right you're right so now listen to what I say it is nearly always the case that the contents are worth more than the one container okay now open your Bibles to second Corinthians chapter four open your Bibles to 2nd Corinthians chapter four and here we find one of my very favorite passages in the New Testament we're going back to Matthew chapter 13 this is a simple sermon it's a short sermon we're going to be back to Matthew chapter 13 in no time go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 who wrote the book of 2nd corinthians man named paul paul is writing and i want you to notice what he says here 2nd corinthians chapter 4 and he says here beginning in verse 5 2nd corinthians chapter 4 and verse 5 he says for we do not preach ourselves can you say amen to that no time to preach ourselves what are we preaching then but christ jesus the lord for and ourselves your bond servants for Jesus sake in other words Paul says when we set up to preach we don't preach Paul we don't preach a Paulist we don't preach Barnabas we preach Christ ok so he says we preach Christ and then notice what he says here in verse 6 for it is God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God okay let's just pause here for just a moment you tell me where is this language coming from God who commanded light to shine out of darkness that's the book of Genesis and so what Paul does here is he takes this Genesis language he takes this mosaic language and he says God who commanded light to shine out of darkness in the beginning let there be light has now shone into an equally dark equally vacuous location and that dark vacuous location is the human heart just as in the beginning he said let there be light and there was light right particulate matter the wavelength light now he says the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has now shown into an equally dark equally void an equally vacuous location has shown in our hearts to give us the lights but not light like that kind of light but to give us the light of the knowledge the light of what knowledge the light of the knowledge of the glory you can substitute the word character the light of the knowledge of the care of God we're in the face of Jesus now let me just share something with you very simple here that's awesome many scholars have recognized that Paul was a Hebrew Paul was about everyone he was a Hebrew but he was also a Roman citizen he was what kind of a citizen he was a Roman citizen and he was from a city that was steeped in Greek culture in fact he studied under Gamaliel and was very familiar with many of the Hellenistic ideas and so he was familiar with Greek ideas and Greek thought and so he was a Hebrew Roman citizen Greek influenced a way to gather everyone yes or no and so if you were going to take each of these three cultures and by the way all of these three cultures converged in the days of Jesus the Greek culture the Roman culture in the Hebrew culture if you were to take each of those cultures and distill them down to a single concept a single idea what would that idea be well in the case of the Greeks it would be we've already or in the case of Rome will start with Rome in the case of Rome it would obviously be power it would be might it would be strength all roads lead to Rome rome wasn't built in the day when in Rome do as the Romans and so if you're going to take the glory of the would be glory right Rome is is the grandest of all kingdoms of antiquity the glory of Rome right you take Rome it is still the whole idea of Rome down it's the glory of Rome but what about the Greeks what if you're going to take the Greeks and sort of distill the essence of Greek nostalgia the university are here at Oakwood University the university is a patently Hellenistic concept this is the Academy the University this is straight out of Greek thought all of the great classical theologians the great classical thinkers from Plato to sir Socrates to Aristotle Seneca and others they were all what Greeks okay so if you're going to take the idea of the Greek what's that going to be that's going to be knowledge and what about the idea of Hebrews what's the whole concept of the Hebrew a chapter 60 verse 1 it says arise shine for thy light is come in the glory of the lord has risen upon thee behold darkness covers the earth and gross darkness of the people but the Lord shall arise upon thee and in the Old Testament you have this whole idea of Lights right the Hebrews would be a light to shine in the darkness the Shekinah light dwelt between the cherubim the idea that Abraham would be a light to the Gentiles thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path and so if you had Rome it would be glory if you had Greece it would be knowledge and if you had the Hebrews it would be light are we together everyone Paul was a Roman citizen who was also a Hebrew and significantly influenced by the Greek so we together now this is very very interesting you roll it all together and what Paul is going to tell us is that every culture finds its consummate fulfillment in Christ the verse again for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shown where in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God where in the face of Jesus Christ what's Paul saying every culture the Roman culture finds its consummation in Christ the Greek culture the pursuit of knowledge Christ is the law goes it's per its significance in Christ the Hebrew culture the light of the knowledge of the glory in Christ he says every culture and that would apply to any modern culture as well by the way it would apply to the african-american culture it would apply to the African culture it would apply to the white all cultures find their consummate fulfillment in Christ because all people find their consummate fulfillment in Christ and what are cultures but just groups of people that are at least similar if not the same are we together everyone so what Paul is saying is that every culture finds its consummate fulfillment in Christ and we have that beauty that light of the knowledge of the glory of God according to Paul where do we have it in the face of Jesus now look at verse 7 and we have this treasure pause what treasure what treasure in context what treasure do we have we have the treasure of the light of the knowledge of who God is are we together everyone in other words Paul saying now we know now we know what God is like no more virgins into volcanoes no more sacrifices to appease an angry god we saw Jesus he was he was forgiving the prostitute he was walking with sinners he was healing the leper he was spending time with the rich and the poor he says we now know what God is like and he says we have this truth this truth of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God and where does he say we have it where's my container he says we have it in earthen vessel some translations jars of clay Wow in both the old and the New Testaments people refer to as vessels as what everyone vessels and a vessel is for holding something Wow the old testament of vessel what is it the the story there in Jeremiah 18 he's the Potter he's the one well what in the world of pot for a pots for what holding something in the New Testament after Saul was blinded and he went into the road to mass he went into the there in Damascus and God appeared to a man named Ananias and he said go talk to him go talk to him because he saw the persecutor the murderer the torturer is H what Bible students to finish this is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name to the Gentiles both the old and the New Testaments you have this idea that people are fundamentally vessels and Paul says we are earthen vessels we are jars of clay but in this jar of clay we have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God now the container contents paradox says that is nearly always the case that the container is worth less than the contents but what is the gospel what is the light of an all let me ask you this question where more than any other time place event was the gospel the good news about the character of God most forcefully communicated to come on now we're at the cross the cross event is the grand epicentre of the Christian faith where the infinite illimitable eternal God of the universe lays down everything for the undeserving and the disinterested in the apathetic and even the hostile Wow you could say it this way on the cross God said I would rather go to hell for you than live in heaven without you are we together that's the cross event that's the cross event on the cross the central truth of the cross is that God valued you more than his own eternal existence ah Jesus had said in Matthew chapter 10 do not fear them can destroy the body no no no no don't fear him that can destroy the body but rather fear him who can destroy both the body and the soul and the fires of hell but when Jesus went stumbling into Gethsemane Matthew 26 he didn't say all fellows my back had twisted my back my back is hurting he didn't say oh my knee is acting up like oh I stub my toe no no no no when the son of man goes into the Garden of Gethsemane listen to his words my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to the point of death translation my soul is dying Jesus had said don't fear Him that can destroy only the body don't fear Him that can just tuck you in for a little nap but rather fear Him who could destroy both body and soul we're in hell so if your soul is dying do you know what experience you're going through you're going through hell Wow are we together so Jesus stumbles into Gethsemane the Bible says he falls flat to his face and the weight of the sin of the world is pressing upon him and squeezing out his life he would have died there if God had not sent an angel to resuscitate him and strengthen him for the cross of it are we together everyone and so so when we get there to the Cross event Ellen White in the book desire of Ages and this is intimated in Scripture but it's explicit in the desire of Ages she says that when he was hanging on the cross he could not see through the portals of the tomb when he said father into your hands I commit my spirit he was saying even if I don't make it I'll go through with this Wow that's why the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2 listen Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 it says who for the glory or the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame so what was it that he saw there what was the joy that he saw on the other side of the Cross his see beloved Jesus saw the cross but he didn't look to the cross he looked past the cross and on the other side of that cross you know what he saw he saw you Wow you see he could see what the cross would gain on the other side and the Bible says for joy he endured the cross now wait a minute you tell me about that man you tell me about that man who came over here he found a treasure and and what was the emotion what was that emotion what was that emotion who for joy went and sold all that he had so think this through think this through the light of the knowledge of the glory of God the essence of the gospel is that God would rather go to hell Forest and live in heaven without us it is usually the case that the container is worth more than or less than the contents but in the case of the gospel in the case of the gospel Paul says we have this treasure the light of the knowledge of who God really is and we have it in earthen vessels and the central truth of the gospel is that God valued the vessel more than himself Oh God valued God valued that the clay jar more than himself he is the contents what do we pray what do we pray on Sabbath when we sing our songs what are we saying God fill me with yours fill me with yourself and the great truth of the gospel beloved is that God values this thing he values you know what we would say if Paul was riding today he wouldn't say jars of clay he wouldn't say he would say plastic water bottles God values the plastic water bottle more than himself you're the water bottle now go back to Matthew chapter 13 we'll wrap this up we ask the question what is this parable teaching us all this man he finds a treasure and it was buried and he sells all that he has we say Oh what does this mean well I'll tell you what it means it means that when I become a follower of Jesus I give up everything now this might not sound like much to you here at Oakwood University I wouldn't expect it to frankly it doesn't sound like much to me anymore but when I was 23 24 years old the passion of my life was to be a professional skateboarder and I succeeded that was my whole life I just wanted to move to Southern California become a professional skateboarder skateboard with the best it was my whole it's all I wanted but what happens when you meet Jesus and all of those things for you at might not be skateboarding doesn't have to be fill in the blank figure it out could be academics could be relationships could be money could be career whatever it is fill in the blank when you encounter Jesus you suddenly have to say would I give up that for him Wow would I give up that for him and the great struggle of the Christian faith is saying I'll give it all up for Jesus it's easy to say it right you can have all this world but give me what but that is the struggle of my heart and of your heart say Amen that is the struggle and we read this parable and we think oh yeah yeah this parable the man gave up everything he sold all that he had so we could get that pearl of great price he sold all vide out so that he could buy that treasure and we we would normally say I'm the one that's giving it up it's me I'm gonna give up family I'm going to give up friends I'm gonna give up career I'm going to give up money I'm going to give up relationships I'm going to give up all of these things and then I'm reading this book it's called Christ object lessons you've ever heard of this book well anyway it's a treatment it's Ellen White's treatment of the parables of Jesus and so I'm reading on this parable the parable of the man that finds the treasure the parable of the man who sells everything for that one pearl and I'm reading on page 118 now we've got a few strands out there we've got a strand here we've got a strand here we've got a strand here and we're going to pull these strands together and by the grace of God we're going to tie a bow so you hang in there I'm reading page 118 parable of the merchant man seeking goodly pearls has a double significance as of what kind of significance double and double means two two significances oh okay what's the other it applies not only to men and women as seeking the kingdom of heaven what I give up but to Christ as seeking his lost inheritance Christ is the heavenly merchant man seeking goodly pearls he saw in lost humanity the pearl of great price in man defiled and ruined by sin he saw the possibilities of redemption and I began to read I thought wait a minute I've been reading this parable now for the better part of 10 years and I was sure that I was the one who found the treasure yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm the one that finds the treasure and the treasure is Jesus and all let me tell you below I got a testimony and I say I said oh when I found Jesus I gave it all up for him and we think that's the gospel news flash the heart and soul of the gospel is not about what you give up for Jesus it's about what Jesus has given up for you so it's not me I'm not the one walking through the field wow talk about it it's Jesus he's wandering through the universe some galaxy decides to take a stroll through the Milky Way and he stubs his toe or something there so he takes a closer look when you hear the opening night he gets in the dirt he's got dirt under his fingernails he got dirt on his knees you were here opening night he found a treasure you that treasure is you he goes to his father father I was over in the Milky Way and I found this treasure there was just something about this I said I want to buy that field what will that field cost the father says there's the council some of you know there was a council and the father's has come come into that council Jesus that field will cost you everything everything that feel to cost you everything Jesus he was in the marketplace wasn't me in the marketplace I thought I was the one shop Jesus is shop and in the parable he comes across a man who's selling wares who's selling goods and has a pearl collection there and he sees these pearls then there's there's one that catches his eye cook classy dapper Oh this pearl is broken Jesus there's something about that pearl can I see that one Jesus is a very expensive pearl but I just can I just see it my what's this cost Jesus that broken pearl will cost you everything everything everything I'll take it beloved the gospel is not about what you give up all you got to give up they don't got to give up your music all you got to give up here why asking that question some of you been asking the wrong question your whole life who told us that the heart and soul of the gospel was about what we gave up the heart and soul of the gospel it's about what God has given us Wow and what does he get you and your thinking listen now here comes your thinking it's not worth it but what did we learn what did we learn look at that jacket I'm not paying $5,000 for that jacket the value of an item is determined by the one who is willing to pay the price some of you are sitting there you don't know me you don't know me those spiritual people are worth it they don't know me you're right you ever bought a lemon you know what a lemon is not talking about the fruit you know what a lemon is it's when you get a car you went on eBay you went on eBay oh I got the slamming deal on this fill-in-the-blank and then you get it and it falls apart anybody here ever bought a lemon before you thought you were getting the deal of a lifetime you got a home didn't look so good at home did it you ever bought a lemon you know why you bought a lemon one reason you bought a lemon cart you bought that car you thought it was the deal of a lifetime you took it home the tires fell off the reason you bought a lemon you bought a lemon for one reason listen to me very carefully you didn't know it was a lemon you didn't know if the salesman had said this is a lemon this car's a piece of junk it's got your name all over no no no no he told you it was good and so you didn't know but wait a minute see you're sitting there you think he don't know me he doesn't know me this preacher doesn't know me how can he say God knows when God bought you he knew what he was getting it's not like God was on the car lot and he thought oh she looks good yeah whoo she looked kicking the tires and yeah she looked she's worth it and then begins to take you for a ride and you begin to break down and you begin to fall into sin and you begin to fail and you begin to fumble and then God's inside of the cars this isn't what I thought of God he knew he knew and he bought you anyway see I don't know in fact no man knows because man looketh on the outward appearance but God knows and he saw that pearl he knew what you were he knew about that thing when you were 15 he knew that and he knew when you said but you really didn't do it and had a young man come up to me praise God for this man's courage young man came up to me right before the program he's a pastor a shock I need your help I said what does he says I'm addicted to porn I need your help I say only my help you need Jesus help praise the Lord for that brave young man looking for help crying out for help I want to tell you something God knows he saw that pearl and all of its broken Beauty because he knew what it was he saw what it could be and he said I'll take it yeah yeah what are you gonna say I'll tell you what you're gonna say you're gonna say what the hymn writer said what wondrous love is this Wow what wondrous love is this O my soul what wondrous love is this O all my soul that would cause the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul megalo your value is not tied to your figure I don't care what the world tells you your value is not tied to that and your value is not tied to how many zeros follow the numbers in your checkbook account your value is not tied to your rims Wow your value is not tied to your talent whether its musical or sports or educational your value is not tied to anything you do or have done or could do your value to God is in you being you you have inherent value I got tattoos all over me why I wanted to add to myself wanted to improve on what God had given me God says you what you don't need to do that you have value have you heard the message today have you heard the message there are young people here there are young people here you're at Oakland your seven-day happens you're a Christian many of us have at the heart of our Christian experience and understanding that the gospel is chiefly about what we give up and tonight you figured out wait a minute it's about what God's given up right you have seen that you have value in all of your brokenness in all of your your sin in all of your shortcomings and all of your mistakes and all of your foibles and faults and fumbles tonight you've heard the gospel the spirit is speaking to you and saying you're worth it you're my treasure you're my pearl and some people tonight they need to come and live in the light of that value they need to come and they need to leave their old value systems behind oh but I oh but I but I can do and I am and I own it leave it there somebody needs to come and say my value my value is in the price that God was willing to pay for me and tonight I accept that value father help me not to try and add to my value helped me to not believe the devil's lie that my value has been diminished by my failures I know I'm broken and I know that you know I'm broken tonight I accept my value I accept that the value and worth of an object is determined by the one who was willing to pay the price and tonight I accept the purchase price paid for me my good friend josh is going to sing us a simple song how deep the Father's love for us and as he sings this song if that's you if that's you and you hear the Spirit of God speaking you're not hearing a preacher anymore we're past that you hear the Spirit of God speaking to you and the Spirit of God says you come and accept that value you come and you live in the light of that value right now if that's you the Spirit has spoken to you I want to invite you to come and kneel before Jesus I want you to come in kneel as Jesus broken little pearl at the foot of the cross we're going to come all the way to the front we're going to say I'm broken I'm that broken little pearl I'm that dirty treasure we're going to go all the way up make room at the altar don't make me stand in the aisle push up please happy Father's love now beyond that he should give his own keys to make how great the pain comes evening clothes the father turns his face noway as well it's my back any sons to blow me behold the man upon his shoulder a shame by here my heart the sky you it was my sin that held him yeah it was a is a rest in the goodness of god beloved rest and the knowledge that you are the treasure of God that you are gods pearl rest in the great truth that the gospel is not about what you have given up but about what Jesus has given up and that your value is not tied to what you do or don't do what you did or didn't do and what you could or could not do but your value is tied up in the price the purchase price of redemption that was paid for you by Jesus I know it's hard to believe but accept it don't add to it believe it receive it and glory in it I will not boast in anything no gifts no pal no waste but I will boast in Jesus Christ amen yes amen why should I gain from this three I cannot give an answer but this I know with all my heart his wounds have paid my ransom yes you Hosanna Hosanna in the highest Hosanna Hosanna hosanna in the why should I came from his reward I cannot give an answer but this I know it all his wounds have paid my ransom father tonight we know with our heart that your wounds the wounds of Jesus have paid our ransom we have nothing to say but thank you hallelujah thank you in Jesus name amen this video was provided by hope media ministry for this and other great witnessing material please visit our website at our email addresses hope at hope video calm you can also listen to much of our media in our online meeting center for free at www.cronicbeats.com that's all video you

Channel: hopemedia

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Keywords: Friend of God series, David Asscherick, Oakwood University, hopemedia, What Wondrous Love is This

Id: lze2uT_msa0

Length: 73min 52sec (4432 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 25 2011